A search warrant near the intersection of Backus Street and Daugherty Drive in East El Paso drew a growing law enforcement presence Thursday, as county deputies moved in to assist federal Drug Enforcement Administration officers executing the operation. The scene unfolded in the Cielo Vista and Scotsdale area, a residential pocket of the city's 79925 ZIP code, leaving neighbors to watch as patrol units gathered along the quiet street.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office confirmed that its deputies were assisting DEA officers with the warrant, according to KTSM 9 News, which reported that sheriff's units were seen near the Backus Street and Daugherty Drive intersection as the situation developed. The outlet, citing the sheriff's office, reported that DEA officers were executing the search warrant at the location, though authorities have not disclosed who or what prompted the operation.
Federal search warrants like this one are not issued lightly. Under Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, DEA agents must first establish probable cause before a federal magistrate judge before they can search a property, meaning a judge had already signed off on the operation before agents and deputies arrived on scene.
Why County Deputies Were on Scene
The presence of sheriff's deputies alongside federal agents is not unusual in El Paso, where local officers are regularly assigned as Task Force Officers to multi-agency units such as the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces El Paso Strike Force, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. That arrangement allows county deputies to join federal warrant executions like Thursday's as part of standard joint operations rather than a one-off collaboration.
The DEA's El Paso Division, which oversees narcotics investigations across West Texas and New Mexico, is led by Special Agent in Charge Robert “Eric” Castañeda, according to DEA.gov. El Paso also hosts the El Paso Intelligence Center at Fort Bliss, where the DEA, the sheriff's office, and other federal partners share real-time interdiction data, a setup that underscores the city's role as a hub for border-area drug enforcement.
A Border Corridor Under Heavy Federal Focus
Federal task forces working the El Paso border corridor have concentrated heavily on transnational criminal organizations, particularly the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels blamed for trafficking drugs into West Texas, per DEA.gov. That focus has translated into massive seizure numbers nationally: DEA enforcement actions in 2025 recovered more than 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills and nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder, while 2026 seizures through August accounted for more than 239 million deadly doses, according to the agency.
Past joint search warrants in the borderland region have led to Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force indictments and seizures of weapons, bulk cash and controlled substances, the Department of Justice has noted in prior cases. Whether Thursday's search follows that pattern remains unknown, as officials have not said whether anyone was detained or what, if anything, was recovered from the property.
The intersection sits within El Paso's City Representative District 6, just south of Viscount Boulevard, placing the search in a part of East El Paso known for its residential streets rather than any history of high-profile police activity. Federal search warrant affidavits are often sealed unless and until formal charges are filed, meaning details about the target of the investigation may not surface until a case appears on the docket of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
The operation adds to a string of recent law enforcement actions in the region. Just last week, two Las Cruces brothers were sentenced to a combined 26 years after a joint federal-local search turned up guns beside a fentanyl stash, illustrating how these warrant executions in the El Paso and southern New Mexico area can lead to lengthy prison terms once cases work through the courts.
